


I'll Call Him Mothman

by flintbastian



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: College AU, Cryptozoology, Modern AU, Online Debate, Social Media, meet cute, prompted fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-13
Updated: 2018-06-13
Packaged: 2019-05-21 23:37:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14925122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flintbastian/pseuds/flintbastian
Summary: Social media really was going to ruin Lance's academic career. And possibly his love life as well.





	I'll Call Him Mothman

**Author's Note:**

> A friend sent a list of "Stubborn Character AU" Prompts and this is the result of that. I definitely did not have to Google how Yikyak worked. Nope. Certainly not. (Seriously its been four years does anyone even remember yikyak?)

Lance’s phone vibrated on his desk next to his laptop, drawing his attention away from the essay on Spanish Mistransitions Ruining Early European Politics and towards the allure of procrastination. The essay wasn’t due for another two days anyways and he already had…. 2 out of 10 pages done. A little social media never hurt anyone, right? 

Lance unlocked the device, leaning back in his chair as he read Hunk’s text about needing to move game night because he apparently got a date. Lance’s response was a swift “Good job Bro!!! We can move it to whenever, have fun with the lucky lady ;)” before closing his messaging app and pulling up his Instagram. He scrolled mindlessly through various photos of co-eds, animals, and art accounts that he follows, liking at random before growing bored of it. He glances back at his paper, research tabs still open, screen bright and glaring at him to get back to work. Lance gave it pause before shrugging and opening the next app. He’d gone three years of college procrastinating and getting decent grades, why change what wasn’t broken?

He glanced over him apps before clicking Yikyak, watching the screen load to show anonymous posts from people in his areas. There was a lot of the usual, posts about noisy neighbors, complaining about assignments. There was a post that gave him pause though, the petty and mischievous part of his brain seeing a very blatant opportunity to provoke trouble.

“Whoever thinks Bigfoot could beat Mothman in a fight is an idiot” was about a page and a half down, 2 upvotes holding it alive for now. 

The only response was someone questioning who Mothman even was. It was only thanks to Pidge’s obsession with cryptozoology that he knows the various attributes of each beast. Honestly Lance didn’t believe in any of the nonsense, but Pidge loved it so he entertained her debates, asking how exactly she believed in mermaids but refused to support the Loch Ness Monster. 

“Okay, but Bigfoot could totally kick Mothman’s ass.” He responded, smiling to himself as he set his phone down and redirected his attention to the essay at hand. He ignored his phone for another 10 minutes, finishing the paragraph he was on before picking up the phone again and seeing a Yikyak notification. 

“Excuse you?? In what universe??” The post has gotten a few more upvotes, second on the home page under a joke about “what if hot chocolate wants to be called beautiful chocolate?”

“In one where cryptids actually exist? Still all he has to do is rip Mothman’s wings off and he’s done.”

And thus, begun the most frustrating debate Lance has experienced in his academic career. The poster refused to back down whenever Lance made what he thought was the final point. He gave up on the paper a hour ago, laptop closed as he retired to his bed, google open on his phone as he research backup information as he waited for Mothman’s response. The conversation had shifted after Lance pointed out that Mothman flying away would not be considered winning, Bigfoot had the advantage in both size and overall strength, and there have been considerable more sightings and “proof” of Bigfoot so he was the More Valid Cryptid. 

The shift moved the conversation moved to overall existence, after Lance’s second comment. Mothman had asked how Lance even had an opinion if he didn’t believe in either beast anyways. This continues for the entirety of the weekend, the post losing upvotes quickly but staying alive between the two of them and a few spectators who had tried to join the conversation but were ultimately ignored. Responses were on and off, sometimes immediate, sometimes hours in between, but there was always an air of snark that managed to wiggle itself under Lance’s skin and push him to respond, fighting his side until the very end. 

By Monday the conversation had gotten to the Flat Earth Theory, Lance calling Mothman a fucking moron if he truly thinks the earth is flat. 

“Its not all about the Earth being flat, asshole. Its about us having a purpose here, its roots are biblical.” 

Lance huffed out a laugh as he marched across the student parking lot. It being the end of the fall semester meant it was too cold out for him to tap out a response, pocketing the phone as he made his way to the University Center for a water and a muffin before class. It wasn’t until he was situated in his row in the lecture hall, laptop out for notes that Lance remembered needed to reply. 

Honestly, it’d been a fun weekend. Infuriating as hell given that Mothman refused to agree with him on ANY of the points he made, seemingly because he just wanted to be contrite. He pulled up Google and searched Flat Earth Conspiracies, scrolling through pages of internet stars and celebrities sharing their sides before getting to a site that explained the theory without mocking it. While he scanned the page, movement in his peripheral caught his attention, drawing his eyes to the mop of jet black hair that sat in the row in front of him. 

At some point over the semester, Lance had taken a shine to the boy. He was attractive, in that bad boy “don’t talk to me or I’ll sock you” kind of way, and made a lot of good points when the philosophy professor in charge of the course got on his high horse. Joys of senior life, filling in those last few electives needed to graduate in the spring. He figured a philosophy class would be an easy pass, except apparently the class required a lot more internal reflection than the description had led him to believe. 

Keith though, he was a master at making a point, albeit a little hot headed depending on the reaction or response he got. The boy refused to back down, a quality Lance admired even though it had held the class over on more than one occasion the semester. Lance opened Yikyak, ready to admit defeat and get back to the real world, where he didn’t debate about imaginary creatures on social media. 

“Okay, I looked it up and I see what you’re saying. But saying the Earth is flat IS Bullshit.” He set his phone down, hearing another phone near him vibrate almost immediately. Looking around, he couldn’t see the source of the noise, writing it off before going back his laptop. Keith grabbed his own phone out of his hoodie pocket in front of him, posture blocking Lance from seeing what was on the screen but hearing the other man sigh almost dramatically before typing something out and setting his phone down.

Lance’s own phone vibrated immediately, the Yikyak notification bar lighting up his screen. Lance glanced at it, then back at Keith's phone, face up and dark as the boy pulled out his notebook. The professor entered the classroom, but Lance's attention was focused on the other man's phone as he typed. What were the chances? Especially on a campus with over 15,000 students, in the middle of a relatively large city? Maybe it was a coincidence. 

“It’s not wholly unreasonable! I don’t fully support it but it hasn’t been completely debunked. No one can actually SEE the entire Earth at once” Lance read, eyes darting to the boy in front of him before tapping out a quick “Marco?”

A second after he sent the message, he watched the Yikyak notification light up Keith’s phone on the desk. He felt heat rush to his face as Keith opened his phone and tilted his head slightly to the phone.   
“Marco?” He muttered to him before shaking his head and typing a response that Lance would never seen. 

Mostly because his mouth worked quicker than his brain and blurted out, “You’re supposed to say Polo” out loud before he could catch himself. He watched Keith’s shoulders jump in response, Lance’s tone a little louder than necessary in the quiet auditorium. He turned to look over his shoulder at the other boy, one eyebrow cocked questioningly. 

“Excuse me?” He seemed genuinely confused, violet eyes looking at Lance like he’d grown a second head. 

“I said Marco, you’re supposed to say Polo. Because you’re Mothman.” Keith’s face blanched, eyes wide enough to tell Lance his assumption was right. “Of course you’re Mothman!” He all but yelled, drawing more than just Keith's attention to him.

“Mr. McClain, something you’d like to add?” The professor asked from the front of the room, slideshow already begun. Lance had somehow missed the start of class in all of his revelations

“Uh,” He stuttered, watching Keith turn around and look pointedly at his laptop. “No sir. Sorry.” Lance shrunk back into his seat, happy to crawl in a hole as he face brightening, trying to shrink himself for the next hour as the professional went back to his slides. He did notice Keith glance back at him once or twice, jumping when he was caught, allowing Lance what felt like a small victory in the middle of this disaster. Of course it was Keith. 15,000 students and he'd spent the weekend debating the existence of cryptids with Keith Kogane. 

Upon dismissal, Lance blocked Keith’s exit from his row, Keith glaring as he asked Lance to move. 

“I will. But first,” He held up his phone, their thread of communication displayed on the screen. “I wanted to ask you something.” 

“What?” Keith bit out, obviously defensive and prepared for something unpleasant. 

“Can you explain the flat earth stuff to me? Like in detail? I googled it but its more bashing it and now I’m intrigued.” 

The other boy slowly deflated, shoulders relaxing as he eyed Lance suspiciously. “Yeah… why though?”

Lance smiled, feeling slightly victorious since it no longer felt like the other boy was a flight risk. He stepped aside to let him past and walked with him to the door, holding it open as they left the building. “Because if it makes some valid points, I don’t want to dismiss. That’s what conspiracies are all about. So what do you say? You, me, a hot beverage and some bullshit science?”

“Its not bullshit!” Keith snapped, but there was considerably less venom as a small smile crept it way onto his face. “But sure, I don’t have another class until this afternoon and some coffee would be nice.”

They made their way to the café across the street from campus, comfortably quiet as they passed through crowds of loud co-eds. 

“I still say Bigfoot wins against Mothman though” Lance threw out nonchalantly, grinning as Keith let out an aggravated groan. 

“You know what, I changed my mind. You’re buying me coffee and you get to research flat earth while I drink it!” He shook his head but stayed their course, stomping loudly as he glared at Lance. Lance could only chuckle as he followed the shorter man to what he expected to be an enlightening conversation.   
lady


End file.
